Wild Dogs in Chobe

Morning game drives leave the Lodge promptly at 6 am. The air is cool and crisp with the sky a pale pink as the sun begins to rise. Dry grass and stunted trees extend in all directions as far as the eye can see in this national park.

We hadn't gone far from the Lodge on our first game drive when our guide stopped for us to watch a pack of wild dogs next to the road.

Bea said that wild dogs are endangered and hadn't been seen in Chobe since February. The dogs milled around our vehicles and seemed quite unconcerned by our proximity. The camouflage provided by their patterned coats is amazing!

 

We had some more excitement when our 4-wheel drive vehicle developed a flat tire. Another guide from the Lodge stopped to help Bea change it, but the women didn't want any of the guests to help. 

 



As far as we can tell, proper maintenance is a problem everywhere in Africa--well, we consider it an issue but it doesn't seem that Africans do. Neither hydraulic jack worked, and a manual jack was bolted to the back of the vehicle but the bolt had bent and was very difficult to remove. You can see that the soil in this part of Africa is very sandy. Lynne is standing in the "road" to work the jack. Soon we were back in action looking for more animals!